Project Management CT050-3

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CT050-3 Project Management In-course Assignment Case Study

Company Project : : Global Alliance Resources Co. Ltd. (GARCL) Asia Pacific Basic IT Support Centre (APBITSC) System

Course Assignment Assignment Learning Outcomes 1. Decide the aims and objectives, deliverables and scope of a typical IT project within the wider context of IT management, create appropriate standards and procedures and communicate the outline of the project effectively to a variety of stakeholders, discuss and critically evaluate the process. Organise a typical IT project and decompose it into manageable components, systematically estimating the resource requirements and allocating tasks with due regard to risk and the available human and technical factors, discuss and critically evaluate the process. Analyse, plan and manage a typical IT project using an appropriate variety of scheduling, monitoring and controlling tools and techniques, and communicate the plan effectively to a technical and non-technical audience, discuss and critically evaluate the process. Understand, discriminate between and apply some techniques of team building and management, risk assessment and management and change and configuration management such as are likely to improve the success of a typical IT project, discuss and critically evaluate the process.

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The Scenario (A Case Study) A large multimedia company, Global-Alliance Resource Co. Ltd. (GARCL), based in the US with regional offices located in Asia has embarked on a new project that will be used to assist the manner in which basic (first-level) hardware and software technical support will be managed and provided centrally for the Asia Pacific Regional offices. Previously this support was managed locally within each regional office which resulted in poor quality service(s) due to lack of expertise. Additionally, as each regional office locally provided similar support services, there was duplication among the various offices within the Asia Pacific Region. Being a high priority project where the regional operational cost savings was expected to be enormous, the necessary funds for the project were readily available once a
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justifiable and convincing estimate was produced. Also due to the urgency of a centralized first-level hardware and software technical support service, it was scheduled to be completed within a 8 week window. The project was aptly called the Asia Pacific Basic IT Support Centre (APBITSC) System. The project was complex as it involved the IT departments from the various regional offices which required an efficient and reliable network infrastructure as connectivity to a central client-server database repository was crucial to provide the required first-level technical support. A project manager was recruited internally (within the organization) who had a good working knowledge of the various regional office locations. Additionally, strong global project management skills and leadership qualities with excellent communication traits was also expected from the project manager. In addition to a good project management methodology, the following are some of the major critical factors that the project manager must ensure is available for the project to be a success:the current IT infrastructure must support this new system support must be 24 x 7 with a reliable primary and backup support staff, i.e. there can be no support outages all support will be only from one of the Asia-Pacific regional offices all support staff at regional offices must have access to this new system (but access privileges will vary with support expertise) the current support system must be replaced in stages by the new centralised system the cutover - (current system to new centralized system) must be in parallel Due to the large number of employees were most of the hardware and software first-level technical support is required, Malaysia has been selected as the regional support centre. Assignment Requirements With a 8 week window to deliver the APBITSC system, you, as internally selected Project Manager, are required to manage and deliver the project successfully. You need to start with presenting a high-level project milestones schedule within a week to the regional operational managers to ensure the phases are well defined and deadlines are realistic with the relevant support from an identified project team when it is available. In total there are 330 employees in the 9 regional locations and the APBITSC system requires a total of 42 support PCs and 6 new servers (see section VII below). You should start by using a proper (or formal) project management methodology with the appropriate processes, tools and techniques. As a team of 3 members, you must also look at all the major critical factors above (section II) and manage the project successfully to completion. Each member will be required to discuss the 3 major project management processes (see below) as a group

Level 3

University College of Technology and Innovation

Project Management CT050-3

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and subsequently discuss 1 major project management process individual. These 6 major project management processes must be combined as a complete document with an appropriate flow providing convincing deliverables. In your report, you must (as a team), suggest and detail the 6 major project management processes using a proper Project Management Methodology of your choice. Assumptions can be made to assist in ascertaining the solutions but they must not impair the decision made on the scope and delivery of the project. Your team should aim to make your report interesting and engaging, without losing sight of the fact that the organisation is seeking a professional approach to a successful completion of the project. All analysis should thoroughly illustrate and document the pressing need to deliver the project successfully. Assignment Instructions As part of a team (maximum of three (3) individuals per group), a single report must be submitted to senior management. The report should be a formally written document, the contents of which should not exceed 6000 words (3000 group total; 3x1000 individual), excluding abstracts, tables, appendices, etc. An electronic copy should also be submitted with the report. Assessment Details Your teams report and your individual report will be assessed as follows:a) A Group based Report of 3000 words (about 7-10 pages) - 75% This is the main report that details your 6 project management processes of how a project management methodology, once introduced, will be able to manage the project well. The main contents should be as follows:i. The assumptions and a major milestones report (5%) ii. a detailed group discussion of 3 major project managements processes (below) and how it will be used to deliver a successful project as follows (30%) :Project Charter Scope Work Breakdown Structure iii. a detailed discussion by each member of the group on 1 of the major processes below as follows (30%) :The Schedule Member 1 The Estimation - Member 2 The Risk Management Member 3

a) b) c) -

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Note: In total the 6 processes (above ii and iii) must be discussed and put in a proper sequence to indicate a good flow on how the methodology is used. iv. a conclusion justifying why these 6 major project management processes are in fact the best areas to manage the project (5%) v. references - use of Harvard referencing and appendices (5%) vi. the workload matrix (identifying the 1 major process done by each member as discussed in (iii) above b) Individual Journal Reflection 1000 words each member 25% This is an individual report that provides a critique of the processes involved in the group exercise and reporting. This should draw upon your personal diary/log of the experience itself and the theory and consideration of alternative methodologies for idea generation and screening. It should also consider theory and experience of the interpersonal aspects of working in a group with respect to the dilemmas, uncertainties and breakthroughs, if any. Note: The work of each member of the group must be clearly indicated as a header or footer to that section. This assignment is worth 50% of the final grade. Assignment Assessment Criteria The criteria below detail the areas, which will be taken into account when the assignment is marked. 1. To address the subject satisfactorily the assignment length should be in a maximum of 6,000 words. A typed format is mandatory. Pass assignments are expected to be legible, tidy, well organised and written in clear understandable English. The report should include an executive summary or abstract at the beginning and end with clear conclusions and recommendations. If you have any problems with report formats please do not hesitate to contact the lecturer. 2. High grades [70%, 75%, +80%] need to demonstrate sustained coherent analytical ability. A systematic approach to analysis and evaluation is required for grades 60% to 85% - for grades at the higher end of the scale, integration and synthesis is a requirement. The quality of the arguments used to develop and support prescriptions/recommendations are, in our view, the essential test of integration. Evidence of reading and some understanding of models and concepts are needed to achieve a pass grade [40%]. Integration of theory and practice is expected for any grade above 65%.

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You are expected to clearly state any assumptions you make, and support statements and theories by referencing to appropriate sources.

Attention will be paid to: Critical evaluation and discussion. Issues will be dealt with deeper and on an analytical plane, based on good research - with industry examples, data projections and commentaries. Balanced researched materials. Appropriate and different sources which must include sufficient academic research, not just secondary research from URLs Proper referencing and citation. Harvard Referencing is a must. Citation must include, apart from the normal details, the page number from where the issue for discussion has been taken. (Refer to Handbook for penalty on plagiarism) I. Regional Office Location/Information To indicate the extent of the project size and complexity, the table below details the various country requirements for Desktop Support PCs and Servers that would be needed for the APBITSC System. Asia Pacific Location Malaysia Singapore Thailand India Hong Kong Indonesia China Australia Korea Total No of Employees 95 72 43 38 7 12 11 45 7 330# IT Support Desktop PCs 10 8 4 4 2 3 3 6 2 42* 6 Production Web Server = 2** D/B Server =1** File Server =1** Backup D/B Server =1! File Server = 1! Servers

The regional offices are distributed across the Asia Pacific and will have a central database with all the IT Support Desktop PCs will connected using network cabling and

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infrastructure best practices which will be scalable where growth and expansion is possible. # * ** ! Total employees in the region who need support Total support PCs located in Malaysia Servers in Malaysia Backup Server in Singapore

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University College of Technology and Innovation